I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4720

To establish the Hudson River Valley American Heritage Area.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 12, 1994

Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. FISH, Mr. GILMAN, and Mrs.

LOWEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the Hudson River Valley American Heritage

Area.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hudson River Valley

5 American Heritage Area Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Hudson River Valley between Yonkers,

9 New York, and Troy, New York, possesses impor10 tant historical, cultural, and natural resources, rep-
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1 resenting themes of settlement and migration, trans2 portation, and commerce.

3 (2) The Hudson River Valley played an impor4 tant role in the military history of the American

5 Revolution.

6 (3) The Hudson River Valley gave birth to im7 portant movements in American art and architecture

8 through the work of Andrew Jackson Downing, Al9 exander Jackson Davis, Thomas Cole, and their as10 sociates, and played a central role in the recognition

11 of the esthetic value of the landscape and the devel12 opment of an American esthetic ideal.

13 (4) The Hudson River Valley played an impor14 tant role in the development of the iron, textile, and

15 collar and cuff industries in the 19th century, exem16 plified in surviving structures such as the Harmony

17 Mills complex at Cohoes, and in the development of

18 early men’s and women’s labor and cooperative orga19 nizations, and is the home of the first women’s labor

20 union and the first women’s secondary school.

21 (5) The Hudson River Valley, in its cities and

22 towns and in its rural landscapes—

23 (A) displays exceptional surviving physical

24 resources illustrating these themes and the so-
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1 cial, industrial, and cultural history of the 19th

2 and early 20th centuries; and

3 (B) includes many National Historic Sites

4 and Landmarks.

5 (6) The Hudson River Valley is the home of

6 traditions associated with Dutch and Huguenot set7 tlements dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, was

8 the locus of characteristic American stories such as

9 ‘‘Rip Van Winkle’’ and the ‘‘Legend of Sleepy Hol10 low’’, and retains physical social, and cultural evi11 dence of these traditions and the traditions of other

12 more recent ethnic and social groups.

13 (7) New York State has established a structure

14 for the Hudson River Valley communities to join to15 gether to preserve, conserve, and manage these re16 sources, and to link them through trails and other

17 means, in the Hudson River Greenway Communities

18 Council and the Greenway Conservancy.

19 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

20 The purposes of this Act are the following:

21 (1) To recognize the importance of the history

22 and the resources of the Hudson River Valley to the

23 Nation.

24 (2) To assist the State of New York and the

25 communities of the Hudson River Valley in preserv-
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1 ing, protecting, and interpreting these resources for

2 the benefit of the Nation.

3 (3) To authorize Federal financial and technical

4 assistance to serve these purposes.

5 SEC. 4. HUDSON RIVER VALLEY AMERICAN HERITAGE

6 AREA.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

8 Hudson River Valley American Heritage Area (in this Act

9 referred to as the ‘‘Heritage Area’’).

10 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall be com11 prised of the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia,

12 Greene, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Westchester,

13 and Rockland, New York, and the Village of Waterford

14 in Saratoga County, New York.

15 (c) MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—The management en16 tities for the Heritage Area shall be the Hudson River Val17 ley Greenway Communities Council and the Greenway

18 Conservancy (agencies established by the State of New

19 York in its Hudson River Greenway Act of 1991, in the

20 Act referred to as the ‘‘management entities’’). The man21 agement entities shall jointly establish a Heritage Area

22 Committee to manage the Heritage Area.

23 SEC. 5. COMPACT.

24 To carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary

25 of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)
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1 shall enter into a compact with the management entities.

2 The compact shall include information relating to the ob3 jectives and management of the area, including the follow4 ing:

5 (1) A discussion of the goals and objectives of

6 the Heritage Area, including an explanation of a

7 proposed approach to conservation and interpreta8 tion, and a general outline of the protection meas9 ures committed to by the parties to the compact.

10 (2) A description of the respective roles of the

11 management entities.

12 (3) A list of the initial partners to be involved

13 in developing and implementing a management plan

14 for the Heritage Area, and a statement of the finan15 cial commitment of such partners.

16 (4) A description of the role of the State of

17 New York.

18 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

19 The management entities shall develop a manage20 ment plan for the Heritage Area that presents comprehen21 sive recommendations for the Heritage Area’s conserva22 tion, funding, management and development. Such plan

23 shall take into consideration existing State, county, and

24 local plans and involve residents, public agencies, and pri25 vate organizations working in the Heritage Area. It shall
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1 include actions to be undertaken by units of government

2 and private organizations to protect the resources of the

3 Heritage Area. It shall specify the existing and potential

4 sources of funding to protect, manage and develop the

5 Heritage Area. Such plan shall include specifically as ap6 propriate the following:

7 (1) An inventory of the resources contained in

8 the Heritage Area, including a list of any property

9 in the Heritage Area that is related to the themes

10 of the Heritage Area and that should be preserved,

11 restored, managed, developed, or maintained because

12 of its natural, cultural, historic, recreational, or sce13 nic significance.

14 (2) A recommendation of policies for resource

15 management which consider and detail application of

16 appropriate land and water management techniques,

17 including but not limited to, the development of

18 intergovernmental cooperative agreements to protect

19 the Heritage Area’s historical, cultural, recreational,

20 and natural resources in a manner consistent with

21 supporting appropriate and compatible economic via22 bility.

23 (3) A program for implementation of the man24 agement plan by the management entities, including

25 plans for restoration and construction, and specific
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1 commitments of the identified partners for the first

2 5 years of operation.

3 (4) An analysis of ways in which local, State,

4 and Federal programs may best be coordinated to

5 promote the purposes of the Act.

6 (5) An interpretation plan for the Heritage

7 Area.

8 SEC. 7. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF MANAGEMENT

9 ENTITIES.

10 (a) AUTHORITIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTI11 TIES.—The management entities may, for purposes of pre12 paring and implementing the management plan under sec13 tion 6, use Federal funds made available through this

14 Act—

15 (1) to make loans and grants to, and enter into

16 cooperative agreements with, States and their politi17 cal subdivisions, private organizations, or any per18 son; and

19 (2) to hire and compensate staff.

20 (b) DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—The

21 management entities shall—

22 (1) develop and submit to the Secretary for ap23 proval a management plan as described in section 6

24 within 5 years after the date of the enactment of

25 this Act;
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1 (2) give priority to implementing actions as set

2 forth in the compact and the management plan, in3 cluding taking steps to—

4 (A) assist units of government, regional

5 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza6 tions in preserving the Heritage Area;

7 (B) assist units of government, regional

8 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza9 tions in establishing, and maintaining interpre10 tive exhibits in the Heritage Area;

11 (C) assist units of government, regional

12 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza13 tions in developing recreational resources in the

14 Heritage Area;

15 (D) assist units of government, regional

16 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza17 tions in increasing public awareness of and ap18 preciation for the natural, historical and archi19 tectural resources and sites in the Heritage

20 Area;

21 (E) assist units of government, regional

22 planning organizations and nonprofit organiza23 tions in the restoration of any historic building

24 relating to the themes of the Heritage Area;
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1 (F) encourage by appropriate means eco2 nomic viability in the corridor consistent with

3 the goals of the Plan;

4 (G) encourage local governments to adopt

5 land use policies consistent with the manage6 ment of the Heritage Area and the goals of the

7 plan; and

8 (H) assist units of government, regional

9 planning organizations and nonprofit organiza10 tions to ensure that clear, consistent, and envi11 ronmentally appropriate signs identifying access

12 points and sites of interest are put in place

13 throughout the Heritage Area;

14 (3) consider the interests of diverse govern15 mental, business, and nonprofit groups within the

16 Heritage Area;

17 (4) conduct public meetings at least quarterly

18 regarding the implementation of the management

19 plan;

20 (5) submit substantial changes (including any

21 increase of more than 20 percent in the cost esti22 mates for implementation) to the management plan

23 to the Secretary for the Secretary’s approval;

24 (6) for any year in which Federal funds have

25 been received under this Act, submit an annual re-
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1 port to the Secretary setting forth its accomplish2 ments, its expenses and income, and the entities to

3 which any loans and grants were made during the

4 year for which the report is made; and

5 (7) for any year in which Federal funds have

6 been received under this Act, make available for

7 audit all records pertaining to the expenditure of

8 such funds and any matching funds, and require, for

9 all agreements authorizing expenditure of Federal

10 funds by other organizations, that the receiving or11 ganizations make available for audit all records per12 taining to the expenditure of such funds.

13 If a management plan is not submitted to the Secretary

14 as required under paragraph (1) within the specified time,

15 the Heritage Area shall no longer qualify for Federal

16 funding.

17 (c) PROHIBITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF REAL

18 PROPERTY.—The management entities may not use Fed19 eral funds received under this Act to acquire real property

20 or an interest in real property. Nothing in this Act shall

21 preclude any management entity from using Federal funds

22 from other sources for their permitted purposes.

23 (d) ELIGIBILITY FOR RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSIST24 ANCE.—
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1 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—The management entities

2 shall be eligible to receive funds appropriated

3 through this Act for a period of 10 years after the

4 day on which the compact under section 5 is signed

5 by the Secretary and the management entities, ex6 cept as provided in paragraph (2).

7 (2) EXCEPTION.—The management entities’ eli8 gibility for funding under this Act may be extended

9 for a period of not more than 5 additional years,

10 if—

11 (A) the management entities determine

12 such extension is necessary in order to carry

13 out the purposes of this Act and notify the Sec14 retary not later than 180 days prior to the ter15 mination date;

16 (B) the management entities, not later

17 than 180 days prior to the termination date,

18 present to the Secretary a plan of their activi19 ties for the period of the extension, including

20 provisions for becoming independent of the

21 funds made available through this Act; and

22 (C) the Secretary, with the advice of the

23 Governor of New York approves such extension

24 of funding.
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1 SEC. 8. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

2 (a) DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF THE SEC3 RETARY.—

4 (1) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may,

6 upon request of the management entities, pro7 vide technical and financial assistance to the

8 Heritage Area to develop and implement the

9 management plan. In assisting the Heritage

10 Area, the Secretary shall give priority to actions

11 that in general assist in—

12 (i) conserving the significant natural,

13 historic, and cultural resources which sup14 port its themes; and

15 (ii) providing educational, interpretive,

16 and recreational opportunities consistent

17 with its resources and associated values.

18 (B) SPENDING FOR NON-FEDERALLY

19 OWNED PROPERTY.—The Secretary may spend

20 Federal funds directly on non-federally owned

21 property to further the purposes of this Act, es22 pecially in assisting units of government in ap23 propriate treatment of districts, sites, buildings,

24 structures, and objects listed or eligible for list25 ing on the National Register of Historic Places.
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1 (2) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF COM2 PACTS, AND MANAGEMENT PLANS.—

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con4 sultation with the Governor of New York, shall

5 approve or disapprove a compact or manage6 ment plan submitted under this Act not later

7 than 90 days after receiving such compact or

8 management plan.

9 (B) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—

10 If the Secretary disapproves a submitted com11 pact or management plan, the Secretary shall

12 advise the management entities in writing of

13 the reasons therefor and shall make rec14 ommendations for revisions in the compact or

15 plan. The Secretary shall approve or disapprove

16 a proposed revision within 90 days after the

17 date it is submitted.

18 (3) APPROVING AMENDMENTS.—The Secretary

19 shall review substantial amendments to the manage20 ment plan for the Heritage Area. Funds appro21 priated pursuant to this Act may not be expended to

22 implement the changes until the Secretary approves

23 the amendments.
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1 (4) PROMULGATING REGULATIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall promulgate such regulations as are nec3 essary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

4 (b) DUTIES OF FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Any Federal

5 entity conducting or supporting activities directly affecting

6 the Heritage Area, and any unit of government acting pur7 suant to a grant of Federal funds or a Federal permit

8 or agreement conducting or supporting such activities,

9 shall to the maximum extent practicable—

10 (1) consult with the Secretary and the manage11 ment entities with respect to such activities;

12 (2) cooperate with the Secretary and the man13 agement entities in carrying out their duties under

14 this Act and coordinate such activities with the car15 rying out of such duties; and

16 (3) conduct or support such activities in a man17 ner consistent with the management plan unless the

18 Federal entity, after consultation with the manage19 ment entities, determines there is no practicable al20 ternative.

21 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 (a) COMPACTS AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—From the

23 amounts made available to carry out the National Historic

24 Preservation Act, there is authorized to be appropriated

25 to the Secretary, for grants for developing a compact
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1 under section 5 and providing assistance for a manage2 ment plan under section 6, not more than $300,000, to

3 remain available until expended, subject to the following

4 conditions:

5 (1) No grant for a compact or management

6 plan may exceed 75 percent of the grantee’s cost for

7 such study, plan, or early action.

8 (2) The total amount of Federal funding for the

9 compact for the Heritage Area may not exceed

10 $150,000.

11 (3) The total amount of Federal funding for a

12 management plan for the Heritage Area may not ex13 ceed $150,000.

14 (b) MANAGEMENT ENTITY OPERATIONS.—From the

15 amounts made available to carry out the National Historic

16 Preservation Act, there is authorized to be appropriated

17 to the Secretary for the management entities, amounts as

18 follows:

19 (1) For the operating costs of each manage20 ment entity, pursuant to section 7, not more than

21 $250,000 annually.

22 (2) For technical assistance pursuant to section

23 8, not more than $50,000 annually.
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1 The Federal contribution to the operations of the manage2 ment entities shall not exceed 50 percent of the annual

3 operating costs of the entities.

4 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—From the amounts made

5 available to carry out the National Historic Preservation

6 Act, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary, for grants and the administration thereof for the

8 implementation of the management plans for the Heritage

9 Area pursuant to section 8, not more than $10,000,000,

10 to remain available until expended, subject to the following

11 conditions:

12 (1) No grant for implementation may exceed 50

13 percent of the grantee’s cost of implementation.

14 (2) Any payment made shall be subject to an

15 agreement that conversion, use, or disposal of the

16 project so assisted for purposes contrary to the pur17 poses of this Act, as determined by the Secretary,

18 shall result in a right of the United States of reim19 bursement of all funds made available to such

20 project or the proportion of the increased value of

21 the project attributable to such funds as determined

22 at the time of such conversion, use, or disposal,

23 whichever is greater.

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